Twisting fibrous strands



sept. 1e, '1969 R. E. SMITH TWISTING FIBROUS STRANDS 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed June 19, 196'? INVENTOR. Por .5M/7H P L QLMM rfaR/Vfys Sept. 16, 1969 R. E. SMITH Tw'IsTING FIBRoUs sTRANDs 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 19, 196'? 5 Dg- INVENTOR.

raAPA/f Ks United States Patent O 3,466,864 TWISTING FIBROUS STRANDS Roy E. Smith, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 427,051,

Jan. 21, 1965. This application June 19, 1967, Ser.

Int. Cl. D01h 7/30, 7/86 U.S. Cl. 57-62 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus producing a twisted textile material that gives two twists to the material for every revolution of the rotating portion of the apparatus. The material is withdrawn from the inside of a stationarily held package and is first twisted along a given path and then reversed to a zone beyond the zone of withdrawal of the material. In the reverse path, the material is rotated about the zone of material withdrawal to impart the second twist.

The problem A Ibeamer package is a very large serving package containing as many as 1,000 separate strands wound in parallel, side-by-side relationship onto a support core about 12 inches in diameter by about 54 inches long. A finished beamer package is about 32 inches in diameter and contains a great quantity of strands.

Due to its size it will be evident that this is a high cost item.

In the prior art, beamer packages of strands of continuous glass fibers have been made by a two-step process that has contributed substantially to the cost.

In a first step, a strand from a ber forming package, wherein the strand has no twist, is twisted, for strand coherency, and rewound from the forming package onto a serving package of, for example, a milk bottle-like shape.

Then in a second step the coherent serving package strand is rewound onto the beamer package. It has not been possible to wind from the forming package directly to the beamer package and twist at the same time for necessary strand coherency.

The first step, for imparting twist, is a simple sounding operation. However, it involves an expensive tube drive twist frame wherein a plurality of packages are rotatably supported. Additionally, the tube drive twist frame contains an equivalent plurality of milk bottle rbuild serving package spindles upon which tube cores are mounted to be rotatably driven while surrounded by an axially reciprocated ring and traveler mechanism to impart twist for coherency as the strand passes onto the core to produce the serving package.

The tube drive twist frame suitably supports the forming package at the top on rotatable, cage-like Cores that are individually driven. Each strand is passed tangentially oif the rotating forming package and downwardly through a suitable tension device and then through the traveler of the ring and traveler device where twist is imparted Fice and thence onto the milk bottle build package core which is rapidly rotated.

Prior to the strand passing through the traveler, one or more turns per inch have been put into it for the coherency mentioned.

This rounds up the strand to hold all of the fibers in the strand in coherent form. The twist is effective to pull in fibers that would otherwise protrude and form loops or ringers. These loops and ringers would otherwise cause entanglements and lost iibers and often strand breakage during passage of the strand through tension devices, guide eyes and the like used in rewind equipment for processing the strands as a beamer operation, ply and rewind operations and the like.

Necessity for package rotation-Strand coherency Due to the fact that a strand comprises 102 or more very tine iibers very delicately held together by the size, and without twist, coherency maintenance is a diicult task in any rewinding operation.

By the prior art, this has been most successfully preserved by rotating the forming package and taking the strand oli tangentially. Over end take off from a stationary package has not been commercially successful.

It will be evident that the speed at which the forming package ca n be rotated on the tube drive twist frame is limited. The forming package is a dynamically unstable mass and this prevents fast rotation and high speed strand pay out.

Other factors are also involved. Thus, the moisture content of the roming package, the strand-to-strand adherence and so forth, also tend to limit the speed of strand pay off from the forming package.

The above discussion has related to twist frames of the tube-drive type which of course are more expensive than the free run tube type, because a separate drive mechanism is required to rotate each of the forming packages at a controlled rate of speed for uniformity of twist along the strand.

Both types of twist frames, however, provide essentially the same problems as regards tangential take-off of the strand from the forming package. Thus the dynamic unbalance of the package produces vibration, strand breakage and so forth even at rather low rotational speeds of the package.

Due to the unbalance of the package, strand will feed from one side more rapidly than from the other because of varying speeds of rotation between one side and the other caused by the unbalanced or heavier weight on the one side of the package. This causes loping or over run of the strand, producing slack. When the package slows down, the slack will be taken up suddenly and snap taut and often break. Also, loping often produces slack in the serving package and this develops loops in the finally plied yarn. At the point of the loop, within the yarn, the yarn strength is substantially nil.

Thus, rotation of the forming package for tangential strand take-olf presents difliculties due to the unbalanced nature of the package.

It might seem simple to hold the forming cake or package iixed and feed off over end and thus avoid all of the problems of package rotation and dynamic unbalance. However, the nature of the forming package itself hinders over-end processing.

Thus, a forming package, as freshly made, is wet or saturated with liquid size and contains a high moisture content. The size is required to hold the iibers of the strand together for enough coherency for the rewind and twist operation. To be effective, however, the size must be dried to a degree to bring out its adhesive character to very lightly bond the fibers together, else there will be no strand from, and just a mass of iibers.

The drying that is necessary to produce the strand coherency, however, causes bonding of the strands to one another at least to a degree. Since the strand is laid on in nearly side-by-side turns, the turns tend to adhere to one another. Over end take-off abrasion pulls the strands apart.

Also, the forming cake is a compact mass, inherent in the fact that it is formed of fibers that are under attenuating tension. This factor also contributes substantially to strand-to-strand adherence. Over end take-off abrasion thus pulls the strands apart.

Also, a forming cake has either a cylindrical or barrel build exterior that adds diiiiculty as regards over end takeoff. In flat build packages, the exterior is cylindrical and this inhibits over end take-off because the strand will rub over the surface. In barrel build packages, the outside surface is of generally arcuate axial contour and the strand will rub over the surface even more severely than encountered with flat build packages.

It will be evident from the foregoing that substantial difficulties are encountered in processing forming cakes.

The prior art has disclosed over end take-off from a previously processed conventional serving package. Such package is built to a tapered configuration, and the strand is crisscrossed. These factors make over end feed-off possible. Attention is called to German Patent 572,050 dated Mar. 10, 1933, FIGURE 2 of the drawings. It will be noted that the German patent spins the package. This is possible because that package is a dynamically balanced mass, as distinguished from a glass fiber forming cake, and also is tapered so that both over end feed-off and inside-out feed are apparently possible.

Note, however, that this art clearly does not show a stationary forming cake and its problems as contemplated and solved by this invention.

From the foregoing it will be evident that a substantial advance would be provided to the art by method and apparatus for very rapidly removing continuous iibrous strands from a forming cake of essentially cylindrical configuration which naturally resists fast strand removal, and having fber-to-ber adhesion which still further resists strand removal; wherein the forming cake is held stationary during movement; and wherein processing from forming cake to beamer package is continuous, and without intermediate manual handling.

Further, a substantial advance would be provided to the art by lmethod and apparatus for imparting high twist to continuous fibrous strands at high processing speeds to form milk bottle build and other types of serving packages.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a method of processing continuous glass fiber strands directly from a forming cake to a beamer package in a continuous operation.

A further object is to provide a method of processing continuous glass fiber strand from a forming cake to a serving package such as milk bottle package with a greater amount of twist and at greater processing speeds on a more economical basis.

A further object is to provide apparatus for rewindng and twisting strand from glass ber forming packages at high speed, wherein the forming package is retained in a stationary condition, thereby avoiding the defects of loping, snapping with strand breakage, and looping of the prior art.

A further object is to provide apparatus for rewindng and twisting strands of continuous glass fibers from the forming package directly to a serving package on a continuous basis, where the package is held stationary.

A further object is to provide method and apparatus for rewindng and twisting strands of continuous glass fibers from the forming package by removing the strand from the inside of the package, whereby outside, over-end processing difficulties are avoided by an inside-out takeoff.

A further object is to provide method and apparatus for rewindng from a forming cake, and twisting all in a continuous manner, and using inside-out take-off.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

FIGURE l is a vertical sectional View of an inside-out twister of the present invention schematically feeding to a beamer package, using a at build forming cake, from a glass fiber forming operation;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of an inside-out twister of invention, illustrating use of the twister with a barrel build package from a glass fiber forming operation, and embodying a smooth orifice cap over the strand outlet tube instead of a traveler as in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 2a is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view more clearly showing the orifice cap;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of a third construction of the present invention wherein a vortex-like throat is used for strand take-off from the package to provide smooth, high speed and more straight-line flow to even further facilitate fiber feed-off from the cylindrical interior surface of a glass fiber forming cake; and

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view, partly in section, of an inside-out twister as shown in FIGURE 1, feeding strand to a conventional milk bottle build serving package and illustrating substitution of the present invention onto a conventional twister frame in place of the tube drive.

Before explaining the present invention in detail it is -to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the particular construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Briefly, the present invention provides novel method and apparatus for high speed processing of continuous glass strands from a forming cake directly onto a serving package with application of suicient twist for strand coherency, which has not heretofore been done;

In accordance with the invention, two turns of twist are given to the strand for each revolution of the rotating portion of the apparatus. The strand is withdrawn from the inside of a stationary package, e.g. forming package, and passed through a passageway in a whirling spindle to an outlet region whirling with the spindle to impart one turn of twist for each spindle revolution. The second turn is added 'by directing the strand to follow a path in the reverse direction upon its exit from the outlet region to a point beyond the zone of strand withdrawal and rotating the reverse direction path of the traveling strand in balloon fashion about the zone of strand withdrawal, viz. the package. Subsequent operations may include the application of the so twisted strand directly onto a beamer package along with up to 1,00() other similarly processed and twisted strands; or alternately the passing of the so twisted strand to a second twisting operation such as a conventional ring and traveler mechanism for producing a serving package of the milk bottle build type or other.

In accordance with the present invention, high speed strand processing is provided with a simplified mechanism by virtue of the fact that the forming cake remains stationary and thus the dynamic unbalanced forces inherent therein are nullilied and effectively removed from the system. Further, over end strand abrasion and take-off problems are avoided.

Further, strand coherence, forming package compactness and density are factors which have been effectively nullified and effectively removed from the system by the manner in which the fibers are taken out of the forming package by a novel inside-out feed.

The direct beamer package forming embodiment-- FIGURE 1, the traveler embodiment In this embodiment of the invention, strand is taken from a forming cake by an inside-out route and a two-forone twist is applied; and thereafter the twisted strand is taken directly to the beamer package in a continuous and high speed operation.

In this operation the strand is given suicient twist for coherency. Thus it is rounded up and all fibers are pulled into it to avoid ringers and lost ends.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the strand after rst being removed from the inside of the forming cake or package is directed in a reverse manner around the package as a balloon to provide the second of the two twists.

It is to be understood that other types of serving packages could equally well be produced within the scope of the invention.

In other embodiments of the invention, as will become apparent hereafter, the twisted strand can be alternately followed, without interruption, Iby subsequent twisting as by a ring and traveler mechanism, giving added twist in a single pass through rewinding equipment.

It is an unusual aspect of the inside-out removal of the present invention that problems of over end take-off of both hat and barrel build packages are avoided. Thus, the strand is not taken off over end in the present invention. Instead, it is taken off inside and moved axially out of the end of the package; and a forming package at that. Substantial novelty exists at this point.

Therefore, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, very rapid take-out from both flat and barrel build forming packages is provided which has not heretofore been done. This is made possible by shorter strand travel and less ballooning; and thus there is less fiber fly and less fiber loss as iby ringers.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the numeral represents a flat build forming package typical of the glass fiber forming art. This is made by attenuating a plurality of streams of molten glass that exude from a heated bushing. Attenuation of the streams produces fibers or filaments that are gathered together, just after application of a liquid binder and size, into a single strand.

The strand is wound wet and at high speed upon a rapidly rotated, moisture-resistant forming tube. The rotated forming tube provides the force for attenuation of the glass streams into the very small diameter fibers making up the strand.

The flat build is effected by a constant traverse the full length of the package.

At this point of production, the so-produced forming package is highly saturated with moisture and 1s a mobile mass that is not self-supporting. It therefore requires drying to a suficient degree to render it self-supporting so that the forming tube can tbe removed for the inside-.out processing. The drying process need only be carried Just far enough to render the package self-supporting. 'The residual moisture can be tolerated by the present invention.

In order to preserve strand integrity, the prior art has been forced to remove the strand from the outside of the forming package in a tangential take-olf as mentioned above with the associated problems of vibration, strand breakage, over end abrasion and the like.

In accordance with this invention, as shown in FIGURE l, however, the forming p-ackage 10 is held stationary within the novel twister 12 of the present invention.

The twister 12 is suitably supported at the creel height position of a rewinding frame. Any suitable support can be used.

The numeral 14 represents a suitable support member to which a ibracket 16 is fastened as by welds 18. The twister 12 is mounted to the top of bracket 16 by bolts 20.

Twister 12 includes a base member 22 that has a thrust bearing socket 24 and an axial bearing 26 in alignment therewith. The bearing members 24 and 26 are formed at the opposite ends of a tubular body portion 28.

The bolts 20 are passed through the foot of the base member 22 to attach the twister 12 to the bracket 16.

A spindle 30 is rotatably mounted on the base member 22. The spindle 3i) includes a shaft 32 coaxial within a tubular drive whorl 34. The shaft 32 turns in the bearings 24 and 26. A belt 36 wraps the whorl 34 in driving relationship.

The bottom of the whorl 34 has a retainer ange 35 to hold the belt 36 in driving relationship,

The upper part of the spindle 30 includes a coaxial stand guide tube 38. A strand outlet passage or region 49 extends between the bottom of the strand guide tube 38 and the periphery of the spindle 30, terminating beneath the peripheral, upturned, highly polished flange 42 which serves as a strand feed-off lip.

The strand guide tube 38 has a smooth outside contour and serves to journal a package support 44.

The package support 44 is of annular construction and includes a fiber forming package support basket 46 and a weight chamber 48. The outer wall 5) is cylindrical at the top at the basket 46 portion, and tapers inwardly around the weight chamber 48 to cradle within the ange 42 of spindle 30.

A weight 52 is secured within the weight chamber 48. This keeps the forming package 10 stationary. The spindle 30 is mounted at a vertical inclination of about 20 or so to make this possible.

A transverse wall 54 separates the weight chamber 48 from the package support basket 46 and forms a bottom upon which the package 10 rests.

Up through the center of the package support 44 there extends coaxially a tubular wall 56 that comprises spaced bearings 58 whereby package support 44 is rotatably mounted upon the strand guide tube 38.

By means of the weight 52 and the rotatable relationship between the tube 38 and the bearings 58, the package support 44 stands still while the tube 38 and spindle 30 rotate to balloon the strand as indicated at 69.

It is to be understood that a conventional tensioning device is positioned either within the strand guide tube 38 or within the outlet passage 40, in this and subsequent embodiments of the invention.

The package 1t) is simply lowered by gravity into the support basket 46 to load the device.

A disc 60 is formed around the top of the tubular wall 56 of the package support 44. The disc 60 has grooves 62 provided around the periphery to slidably receive a traveler 64. The traveler is of loop-like structure of highly polished metal for low friction. Enough clearance is provided between tlie inside of the traveler and the disc 60 to freely pass the strand 66 in guiding relationship.

With the package 10 in position in basket 46 a strand 66 is found on the inside of the package and threaded through the traveler 64 and then downwardly through the strand guide tube 38 as by a small feed tube with air or using other probe device. This strand 66 is pulled out through the strand outlet passage 40 and its direction is reversed to proceed upwardly by balloon 69 to guide eye 68.

Twist is imparted to the strand at two zones. One twist for each revolution of the spindle 30 is given to the strand between its entrance into the strand guide tube 38 and the strand outlet passage 40. The second twist for each revolution of the spindle is imparted as the strand is rotated with the spindle 3i) in balloon fashion about the zone of strand withdrawal from the package 10, viz, the package 10. A twisted strand 67 is thus formed having two turns imparted to it for each revolution of the spindle 3G. The number of twists-per-inch can be controlled by the linear speed of the strand in relation to the r.p.m. of the spindle, e.g., the slower the linear strand speed for a given spindle r.p.m. the greater the number of twists-per-inch given to the strand.

From the guide eye 68, the twisted strand 67 is directed to a tension disc 7G, from which it passes to a beamer pressure roll 72. By means of a suitable guide, not shown, the twisted strand is directed over the pressure roll 72 and thence onto the beamer package 74. The beamer package 74 includes a beam tube 76 that is carried upon the beam 78 of a collet 80. The collet 80 is connected to a gear motor or the like for rotation.

The showing of FIGURE 1 regarding the beamer package is somewhat schematic for clarity. A beamer package is normally held on gudgeons or sub-shafts which fit on the driving head of the beamer frame, and either one or both ends of the beamer may be power driven. In the event only one end is driven, the other end is supported in a suitable anti-friction bearing.

Summary of the embodiment of FIGURE 1 In the present description of the beamer operation, it is to be understood that only one twister 12 is shown. In actual production of a beamer package, up to 1,000 strands 66 would be supplied. Also, as many twisters 12 would be used, one for each strand 66. These are necessary to ll a typical beamer package because the core is about 54 inches long and a finished package size could have an outside diameter of about 32 inches.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that a suicient twist is provided to the strand to round up the multiple fibers forming the strand. The strand is properly tensioned at 70 as it passes from the balloon 69 to the beamer package 74.

It is to be understood relative to FIGURE 1 that the speed of rotation of the spindle 30 is synchronized to beamer take-up speed. For example, two turns per inch can be put into the strand 66 at approximately 3,000 r.p.m. of the spindle 30 and at a beamer take-up rate of about 250 feet (or 3,000 inches) per minute. This is the same rate of throughput as produced by the tube drive twist frames today as good rpm. However, an advantage of the invention is that there is no intermediate handling between forming package and beamer package. Therefore, on a time basis the production should be substantially increased because of the lack of intermediate handling, including loading and end finding.

Further, the cost of the intermediate serving package of the prior art is removed from the production made by the present invention.

Further, one beamer and a thousand twisters of the invention would be equivalent to approximately ten 100 spindle tube drive frames. Thus capital investment is reduced because the ring and traveler set-ups as shown at the bottom of FIGURE 4 which were required by the prior art for the belt driven milk bottle serving package are not used in accordance with the present invention. Nor are the tube drive mechanisms necessary.

Beamer output by the present invention is therefore more economically favorable than the prior art method of making a serving package and then rewinding the serving package onto the beamer.

The elect on power consumption is readily evident.

The lack of rotation of the forming packages as at the bottom of FIGURE 4 also has a favorable elect on power consumption.

Extension of the invention of FIGURE 1 A beamer package operation has been illustrated in FIGURE 1. However, the extended scope of the invention would include the production of serving packages on the order of standard textile cone packages, or other, containing enough twist to provide strand coherency and thus avoid loss of ends by ringers stripping out. This type of package could be used to serve strands for paper reinforcement operations and the like. A package of this type desirably has a high rate of feed out, on the order of 3,000 feet per minute using conventional rewinding equipment. This is clearly possible by using the principles of the present invention.

In producing cone-type serving packages, a suitable traverser will be employed, commensurate with the processing speed utilized. Generally a rapid traverse for crisscross lay produces higher rate strand feed out. If desired, however, a slower traverser can be used and a substantially parallel wind produced. This involves more costly spools but is satisfactory for some customers.

While the weight 52 has been shown in FIGURE 1 as the ,means by which the forming package 10 is retained in a stationary position, the broad scope of the invention would include permanent magnets to perform this function. In the case of permanent magnets, the balloon 69 will circle through an air gap between the vertically mounted spindle 30 and the outward magnet of a cooperating pair.

A disc 69 and traveler 64 have been illustrated in FIG- URE l. However, the equivalent in the nature of a flier, as will be evident to those skilled in the art, also can be used.

The embodiment of FIGURE 2.-Vortexlike strand guide on tube 38 In FIGURE 1, a disc and traveler 60, 64 are used to feed the strand 66 oi the inside wall of the package 10 to the interior of strand guide tube 38 whereby it is guided through the spindle 30 and out the strand outlet region passage 40. This is particularly useful for packages where substantial strand-to-strand coherence is present as either by highly adhesive binders or perhaps by unduly drying the cake to more firmly set the size and binder.

The present embodiment provides another means by which strand feed out from the package can be eected, where the package build will permit it. Thus, where the package is a little less compact and perhaps made by a traverser giving a little less parallel wind, this embodiment may be used. Less parallel wind helps reduce the strandto-strand adherence. The less parallel wind produces a more nearly crisscross lay of the strands in the package. Also, a glass that pulls with less tension tends to produce a less compact package. Further, a high lubricant binder will contribute to easier strand release .after the package is dried sufliciently to become self-supporting.

In accordance with this embodiment of the invention, a low friction guide element 82 is fitted over the top end of the strand guide 38. This may comprise a highly polished and hard chromium plated member or other suitably made member such as of phenolic resin.

As shown in FIGURE 2a, the guide 82 is of annular shape and the wall is of a tear drop construction to provide a rounded top edge 84 for free strand ow over the unit and into the guide tube 38. The guide 82 is of course accurately balanced for vibration-free rotation on top of the strand guide tube 38.

Length of strand guide tube 38 The length of the strand guide tube 38 has been illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 as positioning the upper end at about the middle of the forming package 10 or 86. This provides approximately radial strand take off at least on an average, from the inside of the package. However, this may be subject to variation depending upon the characteristics of the strand in the package being processed.

In FIGURE 2, it will be evident that the wall 56 has been foreshortened and disc `60 removed, to make room for the guide member 82.

Barrel build package This embodiment also illustrates application of the principles of the present invention to a barrel build package 86, FIGURE 2. This package 86 is characterized by sloping ends 88 as distinguished from the square ends of the at build package 10 of FIGURE 1. This package is formed by a decreasing traverse sweep as Will be evident from the shape of the package.

To better support a barrel build package 86, an annular insert 90 may be used. This has a tapered inside wall and can be inserted into the inside of wall 50 to cradle the lower end of the package 86.

While over end take-off of strand has heretofore been accomplished to a degree from at build packages, that is of truly cylindrical external prole as shown in FIG- URE 1, even with appreciable moisture content for strand integrity, such over end take-oit has not been commercially feasible with barrel build packages.

In .accordance with the invention as shown in FIGURE 2, the high speed processing of a barrel build package by the inside out route provides a substantial contribution to the art, and avoids the prior art diculties.

Accordingly high speed rewinding and twisting from both flat and barrel build packages is provided within the scope of the present invention.

The embodiment of FIGURE 3.-Vortexlike throat In accordance with this embodiment of the invention, the strand 66 is pulled out from the inside of the forming package in a little more straight-line ow. This is made possible by a smooth, highly polished vortex-like throat 92.

In this embodiment of the invention, the weight chamber 94 of the package support 9S is made a little longer to embrace enough of the shortened strand guide tube 96 for appropriate bearing support thereon.

The package basket portion 98 is essentially the same length as that shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 because the package 10 is of the same size. However, the transverse wall 100 is provided centrally with the vortex-like throat 92 and thus is distinguishable from the transverse wall 54 of FIGURES 1 and 2.

The forming package of either the at build type 10, as shown in FIGURE 3, or the barrel build type 86, as shown in FIGURE 2, is supported within the annular wall 50 and is held in place by gravity.

A weight 52 cooperates with the tilt of the spindle 30 to hold the forming package 10 against rotation.

A tension device of known configuration is provided either in the strand guide tube 96 or outlet passage 40, as mentioned above.

Operation of the embodiment of FIGURE 3 In this embodiment of the invention, the strand 66 is drawn into the smooth and highly polished vortex-like throat 92 without whipping action.

The polished, aerodynamic contour of the throat reduces friction with the strand. Further, the smooth vortexlike throat 92 lets air flow through in an aerodynamic manner. The draw of air is produced by whirling spindle 30 and thus the throat 92 facilitates its flow.

The effect of this free-owing air through the throat 92 is to provide an air bearing-type lubrication to the strand 66 and substantially facilitates its easy flow through the equipment.

From the spindle ber outlet passage 40, the strand 66 balloons at 69 and enters a strand guide 106.

Processing in accordance with FIGURES 1 or 4 can follow thereafter.

FIGURE 4.-Application of the invention to double twisting As shown in FIGURE 4, strand y66 from a forming cake 10 is non-rotatably positioned as at the creel level of a twist frame. The strand y66 is provided with a 2 for 1 twist at guide 106 after which it is fed down to a milk bottle build serving package 102, at which point it is provided with a third twist.

This embodiment of the invention therefore provides twist at three zones in a continuous operation, taking the strand from the forming package 10 and pulling it directly onto the serving package 102 without intermediate handling or processing by human hands.

In his application, the numeral 104 would represent a support member of a twister frame or the like, to which the bracket 16 is welded at 18. This provides support for the twister 12 of invention.

The strand `66 feeds from inside out as described relative to FIGURE 1 and balloons at 69. From the balloon 69 the strand enters a first guide ring 106 and then proceeds to a second guide ring 108. From the second guide ring 108 the strand proceeds to a conventional ring and traveler twister 110 that includes a third guide ring 112.

Between the second guide ring 108 and the third guide ring 112, there is provided a pair of nip rolls 114 which are driven at appropriate speed. The strand 66 is run between the rolls 114 which provide the linear moving force for the strand.

Twister 110 comprises a spindle support bearing 116 fastened in a support plate 118. A spindle is journaled in bearing 116 and has a Hat belt pulley 122 over which a belt 124 laps in driving relation.

The upper end of the spindle 120 is configured to receive a package tube or core 126.

A ring 128 is mounted on a vertically movable support 130. A traveler 132 operates in grooves formed in ring 128.

In operation, the ring and traveler 128, 132 reciprocate along the axis of the package core 126, while the strand 66 is fed through the guide loop 112 and then through the traveler 132 onto the core to produce the package 102 by rotation of the core. Rotation of the package 102 causes the traveler 132 to whirl on ring 128 with the rotation of the package and impart turns per inch in accordance with the lineal speed of the strand onto the package and the rotational speed of the package.

Regulated axial movement of the ring and traveler 128, 132 builds the package 102 to suitable external profile.

Operational summary of FIGURE 4 From the foregoing it will be understood that the forming package 10l is positioned in the package basket 46 of the twister 12 and is retained in non-rotated relationship by gravitational pull or equivalent.

Twist is imparted to the strand at three zones. The rst twist is given to the strand as the strand speeds through strand guide tube and turns to enter the outlet passage or region, As the strand 66 balloons around at 69 the second twist is applied. Then, as the twisted strand moves through the nip rolls 114 and onto the package 102 a third twist is applied.

Thus, a triple twist can be imparted by the use of the invention.

The triple twist approximately triples the rate of production as compared to the prior art tube drive twist frames.

This application of the invention actually highlights the invention as shown in FIGURE 1, by showing the milk bottle serving package that was formerly produced to then be fed to a beamer. This was the old 2-step operation.

Within the extended scope of the invention, it is possible to feed two or more twisted strands from 2 or more twisters 12 to a common serving package to produce plied yarns in a single pass.

Extended scope of invention The spindle 30 of all embodiments shown has been illustrated as being power driven. This imparts uniform twist through the running length of the strand. Within the scope of the invention, however, the spindle can be free running. This will produce reinforcement-type strands where uniformity of twist along the length of the strand is of lesser consequence and where strand integrity is a more important factor.

This type of strand can be subsequently plied if desired to produce yarns which will be satisfactory for plastic reinforcement and paper reinforcement and the like where uniformity of twist is not so critical as in weaving yarns. In the logical scope of the invention, therefore, the spindle can be driven or free running.

Advantages The following advantages of the invention are evident.

(1) Higher production rates, by forming package to serving package continuous processing with twist production.

(2) More twist at higher speeds as in FIGURE 4 for increased production per unit time.

(3) Reduced production costs by continuous forming cake to serving package processing, omitting internal handling, end finding, etc.

(4) More durable equipment by omitting the vibration by unbalanced forming package rotation. The package is held stationary.

(5) Inside-out removal from both at and barrel build packages.

(6) Constant strand pull overcomes loping, looping and strand breakage inherent in rotating forming package processing. The package is held still.

(7) Over end problems are avoided.

Other advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In strand rewinding apparatus:

a base,

a spindle rotatably journaled on said base,

a strand package support rotatably mounted on said spindle,

rneans for holding said strand package support stationary while said spindle is rotated,

said strand package support being adapted to externally embrace and support a package of strand for strand removal from the inside of the package,

said spindle including a strand guide passage for directing strand from a package on said support to the exterior periphery of said spindle and package,

guide means for guiding strand into said strand guide passage located interiorly of said package and intermediate its ends, and

said strand guide means being carried by said spindle.

2. The invention of claim 1 including means for reversing the direction of the strand leaving said guide passage along a path external of said package and extending beyond the zone Where said strand is removed from the inside of said package.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein there is a strand guide positioned in space, coaxial to said spindle and above said package, and means for collecting said strand after it has left -said strand guide.

4. In strand rewinding appartus:

a base,

a spindle rotatably journaled on said base,

an annular casing rotatably mounted on said spindle,

means holding said annular casing stationary while said spindle is rotated,

said annular casing being adapted to cradle a package of strand for strand feed out from the inside,

said spindle including a strand guide tube extending axially within said annular casing and connected to a strand guide passage in said spindle for directing strand from inside a package to the periphery of said spindle,

an annular disc positioned around said strand guide tube,

means supporting said annular disc,

guide means at the periphery of said disc, and

a traveler movably mounted to said guide means of said disc.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein said means supporting said annular disc is a part of said annular casing.

6. In strand rewinding apparatus:

a base,

a spindle rotatably journaled on said base,

a strand package support rotatably mounted on said spindle,

said strand package suport being adapted to support the exterior of a package of strand for removal of strand from the inside of the package,

said spindle including a strand guide passage for directing strand from a package out to the periphery of said spindle,

guide means for guiding 1strand from the inside of the package into said strand guide passage comprising traveler means, and

means supporting said guide means within the peripheral limits of the package.

7. The invention according to claim 6 wherein said means supporting said guide means within the peripheral limits of the package comprise a portion of said annular casing.

8. In strand rewinding apparatus:

a base,

a spindle rotatably journaled on said base,

a strand package support rotatably mounted on said spindle, and comprising an annular casing having a transverse wall to cradle a package of strand for strand removal from the inside,

said strand package support being adapted to externally embrace and support a package of strand,

said spindle including a strand guide passage for directing strand from a package out to the periphery of said spindle,

an annular disc positioned in coaxial alignment with said spindle and within the package,

means supporting said disc.

guide means at the periphery of said disc, and

traveler means mounted to said guide means of said disc.

9. In strand rewinding apparatus:

a base,

a spindle rotatably journaled on said base,

a strand package support rotatably mounted on said spindle, and comprising an annular casing having a transverse wall to cradle an annular package of strand for strand removal from the inside,

said strand package support being adapted to externally embrace and support a package of strand,

'said spindle including a strand guide tube connected to a strand guide passage within said spindle for directing strand from said package out to the periphery of said spindle,

guide means for guiding strand into said strand guide tube, and

said guide means .being supported lwithin the axial length of a package supported by said package support.

10. In strand rewinding apparatus:

a base,

a spindle rotatably journaled on said base,

an annular casing rotatably mounted on said spindle,

means holding said annular casing stationary while said spindle is rotated,

said annular casing being adapted to cradle a package of strand for strand feed out from the inside of the package,

said spindle including a strand guide tube extending axially within said annular casing and connected to a strand guide passage within said spindle for directing strand from inside a package out to the periphery of said spindle, and

annular cap means on said strand guide tube having a tear drop shape thereby providing a rounded top edge and a vortex-like opening within said rounded top edge and the rounded top edge deiining a smooth circular lip for free strand liow into said guide tube from the inside of the package.

11. In strand rewinding apparatus,

a base supported in space,

a spindle rotatably journaled on said base,

a strand package support rotatably mounted on said spindle,

said strand package support being adapted to support a package of strand,

said spindle including a strand guide tube extending axially within said strand package support and connected to a strand guide passage within said spindle for directing strand from said package out to the periphery of said spindle,

guide means for guiding strand into said strand guide tube,

said guide means being lsupported Within the length of a package supported by said package support,

a strand guide positioned in space, coaxial to said spindle,

a ring and traveler package winding device,

means supporting said ring and traveler package Winding device, and

means for directing strand from said strand guide to the traveler of said ring and traveler package Winding device.

12. In strand rewinding apparatus:

a base,

a spindle rotatably journaled on said base,

a two-compartment annular casing rotatably mounted on said spindle and having a transverse Wall defining an upper compartment to cradle a package of strand for strand removal from the inside and said trans- Verse wall dening a lower compartment with means rotatably jounaling said annular casing,

means holding said annular casing still While said spindle is rotated;

said spindle including a strand guide tube extending axially Within said annular casing and connected to a strand guide passage within said spindle for directing strand from inside a package out to the periphery of said spindle, and

said transverse wall having annular strand guide with a vortex-like throat formed therein in alignment with the free end of said strand guide tube.

13. In strand rev/inding apparatus:

a base,

a spindle rotatably journaled on said base,

a strand package support rotatably mounted on said spindle,

means for holding said strand package support stationary while said spindle is rotated,

said strand package support being adapted to externally embrace yand support a [package of strand for strand removal from the inside of the package,

said spindle including a strand guide passage for directing strand from a package on said support out to the periphery of said spindle,

guide means located below the upper end surface of a package held by said strand package support for guiding strand into said strand guide passage, said guide means including an annular curvilinear surface communicating with said strand guide passage, and

said strand guide means being carried by said spindle.

OTHER REFERENCES German printed application 1,140,497; Althof, eleven, 1962.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner WERNER H. SCHROEDER, Assistant Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 

